Water gas



(No Model.)

J. M. ROSE.

PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING WATER GAS.

No. 391,886. Patented Oct. 16, 1888.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

h J. M. ROSE.

PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING WATER GAS.

No. 391,386. Patented Oct. 16, 1888.

M l IIH W UNTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES M. ROSE, OF ALLEGHENY, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE ROSE GASGENERATOR COMPANY, OF NEW JERSEY.

PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING WATER-GAS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 391,386, dated October16, 1888,

Application tiled March 2,18S7. Serial No. 229,435. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern: upper part of the chamber into thelimestone- Be it known that l, J AMES M. Rose, of Alchamber, just beloworinto the mass of limelegheny, in the county of Allegheny and Statestone or refractory materials, is a flue, h, Fig.

A of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and 3, through which the productsof combustion useful Improvement in the Process of Manufrom thegas-generator chamber pass. Each facturiug Water-Gas; and I do herebydeclare hydrocarbon-chambercis provided with gratethe following to be afull, clear, and exact bars a, to support the limestone or othermadescription thereof. terial, and in the upper part of the chamber Myinvention relates to the manufacture of with a gas-flue, 2', leading tothe gas-storage 6c 10 gas, its object being to provide a rapid and tanksor to the purifyingbox, and a flue, j,

economical process for producing a gas which closed by a damper, k,leading into the chamis adapted for illuminating, fuel, and heating berZ, which communicates by the fines a to purposes. the chamber a at thebottom of the flue boiler To these ends my invention consists, genea,through which the products of combustion I5 rally stated, in raising amass of carbon to in pass, after heating the mass of impregnatedcaudescence and heating by means of the limestone or other material inthe hydrocarwaste products therefrom amass of limestone bonehamber, intothe boiler and generate or other refractory material impregnated withsteam in the same. For the purpose of withaheavyhydrocarbon,and thenpassingthrough drawing the material which is charged into 20 saidincandescent fuel and the heated impregthe hydrocarbon-chamber thelatter is pronated material a current or currents of steam, vided with astoke-hole, c, opposite the grateas will be more fully described in thespecitlbars. Steam-pipes m convey steam from the cation, and set forthin the claims. boiler a to the generator-chamber I), just be To enableothers skilled in the art to make low the grate-bars and pipes or, tothe hydro- 5 2 and use my invention,I will describe the same,carbon-chambers just above or below the referring to the accompanyingdrawings, in gratebars and into the upper part of the which same.

Figure 1 is a horizontal section of the ap- In carrying out the processof making gas, paratus. Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the which formsthe subject-matter of this applim 30 same on the line 00 :c, Fig. 1, andFig. 3 is a cation, a quantity of blocks or pieces of limeverticalsection of the same in the line 3 3 stone, dolomite, slag, or someporous refrac- Fig. 1. tory material, are coated or impregnated withLike letters refer to like parts in each of a heavy hydrocarbonsuch asasphaltum, the figures of the drawings. coal-tar, &c.and the materialthus produced 5 Arranged around a central boiler, a, are a charged intothe limestone or hydrocarbon number of gas-generator chambers, 1),between chamber b through a port in the roof until the each of which andalternating therewith chamber is about half filled, thus forming a arelimestone or hydrocarbon chambers 0, mass of refractory materialimpregnated with which communicate with the gas-generator a heavyhydrocarbon, and the said chamber is 0 o chambers and with the boiler,in the manner then sealed by suitable means to prevent achereinafter setforth. Each gas-generator cess of air thereto. At the same time thegaschamber 1) is provided with gratebars I), and generator chambers arefilled with coke, coal, in the outer wall with a flue or passage, 6, orother suitable carbon, and when the charghaving lateral offshoots 0,leading into the ing is completed the fuel is ignited and the 5 45chamber, through which an air-blast may be blast turned on in theair-blast flue c, which forced into the chamber to raise the mass ofrapidly causes the fuel to become incandesfuel to ineandescence. Theroof of the gencent, and the products of combustion thereerator-chamberhas therein a charging-port, from, passing over through the flue it intoand f, closed by a block, f, and the lower part of through the mass ofimpregnated refractory 50 the chamber is provided with a stoking-hole,material, heating the same, the hydrocarbong, and ash'pit door g, andleading from the chamber being closed, so that no air is adthehydrocarbon with which the limestone or other material is impregnated.These products of combustion, after passing through the mass of materialin the hydrocarbon-chambe r,

pass through the fluej into the chamber Land.

thence into the boiler a to generate steam. When the fuel in thegenerator-chamber has reached the proper degree of incandescence, theair-blast is turned off and the damper 7c lowered to close the flueleading into the boiler fromthe hydrocarbon-chamber, after which steamis turned on in the pipes m m. The steam from the former, coming incontact with the incandescent carbon, is decomposed and hydrogen andcarbonic oxide formed,,

which gases pass over into the hydrocarbonchamber 0 through the mass ofmaterial therein, some of the carbonic oxide uniting with the oxygenreleased by the decomposition of the steam,which enters thehydrocarbon-chamber below the mass of impregnated material, to formcarbonic acid, and the hot gases thus formed, passing through the heavyhydrocarbon,causes the latter to form,with the nascent hydrogen,hydrocarbons principally of the ethylene and paraffine series, whichmingle with the carbonic oxide, hydrogen, and other gases in the upperpart of the hydrocarbonchamber.

Any carbon bisulphide which may have been formed in the fuel-generatorchamber is loroken up by the high temperature of the lime, hydrocarbonand sulphureted hydrogen formed, which may be subsequently removed bypassing the gas through a purifying-box.

During the heating of the limestone or hydrocarbon chambrr and theimpregnated material therein by the products of combustion passingtherethrough the heat causes some of the hydrocarbon to be distilled,which, as the upper walls of the limestone-chamber are at acomparatively low temperature, deposit thereon more or less carbon, asdo the products of combustion passing through the chamber to a slightextent. To take up this deposited carbon and still further enrich thegas in hydrogen and reduce the bulk of the carbonic acid formed in thelower part of the limestonechamber to carbonic oxide, a supply of steamis admitted into the upper part of the limestone-chamber, and as thefree carbon and the gases in the upper part of the chamber are now at ahigh heat the steam is decomposed and the oxygen released united withthe hot carbon and this carbonic acid to form carbonic oxide, thehydrogen mingling and passing off with the other gases formed in thelime-chamber through the outlet 11 to the purifying-box orstoragetanks'. The flow of steam into the fuel or generator chamber andinto the hydrocarbon chamber is continued as long as the fuel andmaterial in the hydrocarbonchamber remains heated to a sufficient degreeto effect the decomposition of the steam; but as soon as the heat ofthese substances falls too low the steam is turned off, the damper 7craised, and the air-blast turned on in the passage e, which soon raisesthe temperature of the fuel and the material in the hydrocarbonchamberto the proper temperatureto commence the gas-making step again. When thehydrocarbon with which the material in the limestonechamberisimpregnated is exhausted, the limestone is withdrawn from the chamberand a new charge of impregnated materialisinserted. As a series of thesesets of gas-making chambers are arranged around the boiler, and as theydo not act simultaneously, some one set of chambers is alwaysdischarging its products of combustion into the boiler, while anotherset is always discharging a supply of gas into the storage tanks orreservoir, so that the action of the apparatus is continuous.

The gas which is obtained by this process contains more or lesshydrogen, and is rich enough in light hydrocarbons, principallymarsh-gas, to insure that a long heating-flame will be obtained inburning it, and hence the gas is well adapted for fuel purposes. As theasphaltum or coal-tar forms with the hydrogen a large percentage oflight hydrocarbons, a very large volume of gas is made very quickly at acomparatively low cost.

The above apparatus and the exact order in which the steps of the methodare described are not absolutely essential to my improved. method, asany other form of apparatus may be used, and instead of passing all ofthe gases resulting from the decomposition of steam in thegenerator-chamber through the hydrocarbon-chamber a part may pass offinto the storage tanks directly from the generatorchamber. Further, thehydrocarbon-chamber may be heated in other ways than by the products ofcombustion passing therethrough,and gas. may be made in this chamberalone. What is known as Neufchatel limestone or J ura limestone anatural hydrocarbon-impregnated limestone-may be used in thehydrocarbon-chamber in place of the artificiallyprepared materialheretofore described.

I do not claim in this application the apparatus described herein, asthat forms the subgases arising from the steam decomposed by the fuelpassing through the limestone, and finally admitting a supply of steambetween the mass of limestone and the outlet for the gas, substantiallyas and for the purpose set forth.

2. The improvement in the art of making gas,which consists in heating amass of coal or coke to incandescence and passing the products ofcombustion therefrom through a mass of limestone or porous refractorymaterial impregnated with a heavy hydrocarbon and then passing throughsaid incandescent fuel and heated impregnated limestone a current orcurrents of steam, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

3. The improvement in the art of making gas, which consists in heating amass of coke or coal to incandescence and heating by means of the wasteproducts therefrom a mass of limestone or other refractory materialimpregnated with a heavy hydrocarbon, and then passing through saidincandescent fuel and the heated

